quinta-feira, julho 26, 2012

[Europe] Gay rights part of EU entry
The European Commission, the executive body that governs the European Union (EU), has clarified that respect for gay rights is a legal criterion for EU accession, EUObserver reports.

[Ukraine] Anti-Gay Bill Sparks Outcry in Ukraine
If a group of Ukrainian lawmakers succeeds in its mission, TV shows and movies sympathetically portraying homosexuals such as "Brokeback Mountain" will be banned. So will gay pride parades.

[India] Radio Gives Voice to India’s Transgender Community
Stigmatized by society and disowned by relatives, the majority of India’s transgender community is forced to live as second-class citizens with restricted access to education, jobs and health care. Determined to combat this discrimination and alienation, the community is now creating its own media to amplify its voice.

[USA] Transgenderism More Likely for G.I. Joes, Study Says
Biologically male U.S. veterans were twice as likely as their civilian counterparts to identify as female, a former military psychologist told Courthouse News, discussing a soon-to-be-published study of more than 5 million service members.

[USA] Transgendered Roman Catholic Woman Decries Episcopal Actions at General Convention
Three years ago, I interviewed a transgendered woman (formerly a man), an Anglo-Catholic who has since converted to Roman Catholicism. See interview here.
She has been following the decisions of the recent General Convention allowing the first Christian denomination in history to officially affirm transgender sexuality and allow people who have had sex-changes, or "gender reassignment surgery," to apply to be clergy.

[DC, USA] Transgender Challenges and HIV
Speaking at a workshop this morning, five AIDS 2012 panelists examined problems transgender people face in various countries, particularly in the U.S. Focusing on the prevalence of HIV in the transgender community and the related risks, JoAnne Keatley, director of the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Center of Excellence for Transgender Health, covered several of the factors contributing to transgender people's higher risk of acquiring HIV. For example, she said, transgender people face relatively greater degrees of dicscrimination in employment, housing and health care, as well as marginalization, or, in some countries, criminalization of people who do not conform to gender norms.XIX International AIDS Conference: The Beginning of the End?